On Memorial Day morning, a single solemn melody will move through Bethlehem, passed from musician to musician in a citywide act of remembrance.
The 13th annual TAPS over Bethlehem returns Monday, May 25, 2026, with 61 trumpet players lining the streets from Nisky Hill Cemetery to Memorial Park Cemetery. The first notes will sound at 8 a.m. from Nisky Hill Cemetery, beginning a continuous performance of “Taps” that carries across Bethlehem before ending at the flagpole in Memorial Park Cemetery.
The event began in 2014 through the vision of Dan Deysher, a World War II veteran, Liberty High School alumnus, Navy musician, and longtime Bethlehem resident who believed deeply in the power of a live bugler to honor fallen service members.
For Deysher, “Taps” was not ceremonial background music. It was a final act of respect. After his military service, he went on to sound “Taps” at nearly 4,000 military funerals throughout the region, keeping a log of each one.
“Every one was important to him,” said his granddaughter, Alana Rader.
That sense of duty still shapes TAPS over Bethlehem. Rather than a single performance in one place, the event stretches across the city, with each musician carrying the melody forward. Rader, a third-generation trumpet player, described it as something larger than the number of people involved.
“With TAPS over Bethlehem, it’s not just 50 buglers,” she said. “It’s one never-ending strain of taps.”
The tradition is also a family story. Deysher played in the event for several years, and members of his family have continued to take part. At one point, four generations of the family played together, making the tribute both public and deeply personal.
Watch the Facebook Video from 2018
This year’s route begins at Nisky Hill Cemetery, continues up Church Street to Center Street, then follows Center Street before turning right on Washington Avenue and left on Madison Avenue toward Memorial Park Cemetery. The final trumpet will perform “Taps” at the flagpole.
At 9 a.m., all trumpet players will gather for a mass performance at Memorial Park Cemetery, followed by the annual City of Bethlehem Memorial Day Parade and Observance at 9:30 a.m.
For Rader, the meaning of the day is worth holding onto.
“I think the tricky thing about Memorial Day is we’ve sort of forgotten what it means,” she said. “It’s a day to gather, but really it’s a day of remembrance.”
This year, TAPS over Bethlehem invites the community to remember together, one note at a time.
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